


In which two nerds flirt through Star Trek

by slightly_oblivvyous



Series: Newmann in 1000 Words or Less [3]
Category: Pacific Rim (2013)
Genre: M/M, Star Trek References
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-19
Updated: 2014-11-19
Packaged: 2018-02-26 06:37:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 839
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2641754
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/slightly_oblivvyous/pseuds/slightly_oblivvyous
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Newt and Hermann bond over Star Trek. (or: Livvy wanted an excuse to make Star Trek references.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	In which two nerds flirt through Star Trek

"Can you believe this?!" Newt shouted, slamming papers down onto his desk. "Six months! _Six months_  I’ve been trying to figure out how the kaiju reproduce, and  _only now_  do they think to send me reports from the Anchorage attack.”

Hermann grit his teeth and kept his focus on the chalkboard. So it was going to be one of those mornings.

"Apparently when they deconstructed Knifehead after Gipsy Danger mangled him— her? neither? Anyway, they found evidence of a smaller kaiju almost  _fully formed_  inside. Xe was _pregnant_! A pregnant kaiju with no reproductive organs to speak of, like a tribble! Except, y’know, meaner and a lot less pleasant to be around.”

"Oh I don’t know, I imagine the Klingons would find the kaiju much more pleasant."

Newt paused his ranting to gape at the back of Hermann’s head. “Dude.  _You_ watch Star Trek?”

"You needn’t sound so surprised; I am  _capable_  of enjoying things, you know.”

"Well yeah, but  _I_  like Star Trek! This violates our agreement to never agree on anything, and I for one am highly offended at this breach of contract.”

"Wh—" Hermann spluttered. "We never made such a contract!"

"Are you sure? Because I’m pretty sure we signed it like the moment we first shook hands."

"Well unless you manage to contaminate the lab with some mild-altering toxin, I can assure you there will be no further violations on my part."

==

"So, Kirk or Picard?"

"Excuse me?"

"Who was the better captain, Kirk or Picard?"

"Picard, undoubtedly, although on the whole I prefer The Original Series to The Next Generation."

"No way, really?"

"I always felt something of an affinity for Spock." Hermann offered by way of explanation.

"What was it, the inability to feel appropriate emotions, or that time he started sobbing in mathematical sequences?"

Hermann stiffened. “His tireless pursuit of logic in the face of an extremely illogical universe was sharply resonant as a child, and it remains so now.” He fixed a pointed glare at Newton, and Newt held his hands up in surrender.

A few minutes later, he commented, “I always felt more like Wesley Crusher.”

"Why? Your inability to talk to girls, or tendency to piss off authority figures?"

Newt winked. “Nah, I’m just that cute in sweaters.”

Hermann scoffed dubiously, but when Newt arrived the next day wearing a truly awful sweater, Hermann had to admit (grudgingly, to himself) that he  _did_  look pretty cute.

==

"You know, Dr. Geiszler, just this morning I recalled having passed a  _miserable_  three weeks attempting to introduce some kind of sequential logic to the system of stardates.”

"Oh yeah? I commend you for your efforts, man," Newt said sympathetically. "The stardate system is hopeless."

"I take it you never engaged in such… trivial endeavors?" Hermann’s voice took on a guarded sort of hopefulness.

"Have you even met me, Herms? Of course I did. I always wondered about the biology of the Trills and their symbionts. When I was 13 I spent two months doing an extensive theoretical study on how a race of intelligent organisms would evolve to be completely physically dependent on a sympatric species, one which I theorize didn’t develop intelligence until after the initial symbiosis phenomenon."

"And your findings?"

"Theoretically possible, but extremely improbable. I mean yeah, infinite universe and all, but the odds of a long-lived species developing obligate symbiosis is…"

"Less than four trillion to one," Hermann interjected.

"Less than four trillion to one?" Newt grinned broadly. "You couldn’t be more precise, Mr. Spock?"

"Not while maintaining any accuracy, no." Hermann pointedly ignored the nickname and hid a small smile behind his cup of tea.

==

"I had a hard time watching The Original Series once I’d started on Next Generation," Newt commented one evening over a tray of unimpressive mess hall pizza.

Hermann nodded. “There is a significant disparity in quality, both in terms of acting and effects, but it’s completely—”

"It had nothing to do with that." Newt waved his hand dismissively. "It’s just that I found TOS to contain—" he leaned in with a conspiratorial smirk " _—insufficient Data._ ”

“ _Hah!_ ”

Startled by his own outburst, Hermann clapped his hands over his mouth and began to turn a brilliant shade of pink. The delighted grin spreading across Newton’s face only worsened his embarrassed flush.

"Dude, you laughed!" Newt exclaimed in an awestruck whisper. "I don’t think I’ve ever heard you do that!" Hermann tried and failed to melt into his chair.

"Don’t be ridiculous Newton, we’ve known each other for years. Certainly you’ve heard me laugh before."

"No seriously man, I think that’s the first time I’ve heard you  _actually_  laugh - well, without someone else also yelling at me. If I’d known that Star Trek references were the way to get past your prickly exterior…”

"I’m not ‘prickly’," Hermann sniffed, slowly straightening up and retrieving his forgotten utensils.

"Uh, yeah you are. You’re like a hedgehog, all prickly on the outside but still secretly adorable."

Hermann speared a piece of suspicious meatloaf. “I am also  _not_ adorable.”


End file.
